BALTIMORE, MD – First came the popular red pandas that arrived at the Maryland Zoo this past June. Now comes a student-created computer game inspired by the Zoo’s pandas.
The game, called Red Panda Rush, is reminiscent of early desktop arcade games where players use keyboard strokes to make the character, in this case a red panda, run and jump over obstacles.
Red Panda Rush was developed as a class project by Martin Burgunder, a high school senior at the George Washington Carver Center for Arts & Technology, along with classmates Isaac Sigrist (animator and artist) and Jack Feldges (background art and game art).
Martin has been a teen volunteer at the Zoo for more than three years and interested in game development for almost as long.
“When I heard about the Zoo receiving red pandas, I saw it as an opportunity to combine my passions in volunteering and game design,” Burgunder said. “I contacted two of my classmates and asked them to join the project as artists before contacting the Maryland Zoo to pitch the game.”
“As Martin has shown with this project, you never know how someone will use their experience at the Maryland Zoo as an inspiration,” said Zoo President and CEO, Kirby Fowler. “From a design standpoint, the game is quite sophisticated, but it’s easy enough for even amateurs like me to play.”
“We receive a lot of student requests and just can’t be involved in every one. However, given Martin’s history here as a Zoo volunteer, we jumped at this opportunity,” Fowler said.
The game works on desktop computers, not mobile devices.
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